Dark as Daylight Ch. 08

"We have to find out from Monty. She is the only one that can marry you."

"Who made up that stupid rule?"

"We did, when we wrote up the Constitution for this ship. Rod Laver helped us make it a legal document, and made sure everyone had a voice in it, even you."

"I want to get married tomorrow."

Three voices said, "No."

"Why didn't you vote Beth?"

"I counted. There were 3 of them and 2 of us. Regardless of what you wanted to do, they would win. Why bother to vote in a losing cause. Teddy told me there was one more thing I had to do before I got married. She never told me what it was, and she is never wrong."

"Mom would you ask Monty if we can see her?"

Gray said, "Don't bother, she's in engineering waiting for you two."

"Why would she be waiting in engineering for us?"

"Why don't you ask the senior captain?"

"Oh my goodness, Teddy is going to kill me. I told her I would pick her up in the play area 30 minutes ago. I'll meet you guys in engineering."

Gray said, "Don't bother she's in engineering, with Monty."

"Why would she be...never mind, whatever she's doing there, she's up to no good."

*******************

When they walked into the engineering section, most of the flight deck, and engineering crews were there, and they began applauding. Gray and Delicious pushed the newly engaged couple forward to receive the adulation of their peers. Elizabeth was bright pink, but Newton was brighter and red.

Gordon rushed over to embrace and congratulate him; while Zoey embraced Elizabeth.

"I'm so happy you're my sister now."

"Thanks Zoey, I've never had a real family before; one that really cared for me. This is going to be a radically new experience."

"Those two fight like cats and dogs over this ship. One says left, the other says right, until they can make it the best it can be. If you hear screaming in the rafters, it's those 2 screaming about where a bolt goes."

"I think I can deal with that." Then she whispered to her, "I'm pregnant."

Zoey screamed at the top of her lungs. "Newton you bastard, couldn't you at least wait until after you were married to get her pregnant?"

There was a roar of laughter and applause in engineering as the news was heard, and spread around.

Delicious walked over to Zoey. "Do you see now why we call you the ship's newspaper?"

"I'm sorry, it just sort of slipped out."

Someone was tugging on her pant leg. She looked down to see Teddy standing there.

"Yes Teddy."

"You going help Elizabeth get dressed go outside?"

"Elizabeth's going outside?"

"Yes, you too."

"Oh no I'm not."

Gordon heard her yell and came right over to her.

"What's up Zoe?"

"Teddy just told me Elizabeth's going outside, and I'm going with her."

"How did you know Teddy, we just made that decision."

"I like Zoey, I hear lots of things."

"Gordon, I'm not going."

"I know I brought turkeys onboard this vessel, but I didn't know I brought chickens too."

"I'm not a chicken. I have the baby to take care of. Where are you going to be, while I am outside?"

"I am going to be floating next to Newton. You were going to be floating by Elizabeth. I guess we can find someone, who will not wet her panties, because she's going to be outside, looking at what God created for us to enjoy, do you?"

"You are a real..."

"No bad words."

"Thank you Teddy; am I still allowed to hit him?"

"In your room, where no one sees. You have baby inside."

Zoey screamed "I'm going to kill you."

"I've been wearing the condoms."

"You are the man. It's still your fault."

"How is it my fault if the condom is defective? You put them on me."

"You probably put holes in it.""

"Head please."

Gordon bent down low enough to give Teddy access to his head. He was still in the process of growing his hair back, after his operation, so it felt funny against Teddy's fingers.

After a short time, she looked at Zoey, "He not lie. He not put holes in thing. Time go outside now, must keep Elizabeth calm."

"Who thought this whole thing up?"

Teddy said, "ME!"

As soon as the word was out of her mouth, she moved fast, and ran away.

"Why is she doing that to us?"

"Can you think of a better way to welcome Elizabeth into our family, and make her feel cherished at the same time?"

"You are a real..."

Gordon said, "No bad words."

"I'm going to get you for that."

"Oh, I certainly hope so."

Elizabeth was screaming, "I am not going out there" to anyone and everyone who would listen to her."

Monty was doing neither."

"Captain Franklin, please stand at attention."

With Monty's face less than 12 inches away from hers; Elizabeth froze like a popsicle him.

"Gentlemen, lift her off the floor, and proceed to put her into the EVA suit."

Elizabeth remain suspended in the air for 4 minutes, while 5 men inserted her into the bulky suit that would protect her from the radiation, gamma rays, and other vagaries of space that could fry a human being in moments. As she was being dressed, she now loved the protective shielding of the spacecraft, and the comforts it had for her and her shipmates.

As she looked around, Gordon and Newton were already in the airlock waiting impatiently for the 2 women to join them. She was about to give them, and Monty also, a piece of her mind. She was ready to begin, but she had the feeling someone was staring straight through her. She looked around, and then down into Teddy's smiling face.

"No say Lizbeth. No make God angry with you. Pray instead. Everything good inside and outside. God; She Everywhere. She love you and Newton. Be good."

"This is the one thing I had to do?"

"Yes, you see what She made for all of us."

"I hope my baby is like you."

"You baby very important. She lot like me. Not have red hair. You go outside now. Have good time."

"I love you Teddy."

******************

Gordon was wearing the EVA maneuvering pack. Newton, Elizabeth, and Zoey would be tethered to the ship. He believed there was only so much shock the girls would be able to take at one time, and Newton was a wildcard; he could go either way. Gordon believed he would love it. His dad was not sure.

He said, "This will be the most amazing site you will ever see. Remember, you can't fly off into the vastness of space, because you are attached to the ship. The furthest you can go from the ship is 25 feet. When the time comes, Monty will speak with you, and if you really want to get married, respond appropriately. It will be the 4 of us, your God, and the universe is she created."

They stepped out onto the platform, and closed the airlock door behind them. Gordon attached the tether, and a 4-foot extension to Elizabeth and Zoey. He locked both of them in place and proved they could not become detached from one another accidentally. He walked over to Newton to find he had tethered himself properly. They all assembled at the edge. Newton took Elizabeth's left hand and Zoey took her right.

Gordon said, "Jack, they are ready. Depressurize the payload bay."

Moments later Jack replied, "The payload bay is depressurized."

"Open us up."

They could feel the downward movement of the ship's payload bay door, but not its' forward movement through space. They gasped as they began to see the billions of Galaxies and Stars coming into view.

"Okay ladies, you have a choice. You can step off the edge into space, and stay close to the ship; or you can push off the edge, and float until your tether says, "STOP!" At that point you are 25 feet away from the Good Luck 1. Once you are there, I will stop talking to you, and as my dad said to me and my sister, I will let you look at and listen to what God created."

Elizabeth said, "Come on Zoey, let's fly."

That's what they did. They put their feet on the edge of the platform, pushed gently, and off they went. Two pregnant women, who would deliver their babies on the same day nearly 9 months down the road.

Newton said, "Let's me go Gordon. If they can do it; I can." He pushed off the edge of the platform, managed to get himself into a spin, which only ended when his rope pulled him to a stop."

"Great work Newton."

"Thanks, I'll try to do better on the hundredth time."

Gordon faded into the background, while keeping a close eye on his sheep. He didn't utter a word for the next 20 minutes.

The talking was going on was between the newbies, and there wasn't a lot of that going on. Elizabeth would point and say, "There's that nebula, and there's that star..."

Newton interjected, "Ladies do you realize that we are moving at 4 times the speed of light, and it feels like we are not moving at all."

Zoey screamed. "I was doing so well, until you opened your damn mouth."

"Zoey calm down, and look at the scenery. No one has ever seen anything like this before."

Amazingly, she replied, "Yes dear."

Just prior to life-support exhaustion for Gordon's backpack, Monty asked, "Please form a circle, with the bride and groom holding hands, we will perform the first wedding ceremony of two humans, while they are in deep space. They are not inside the spacecraft; they are not attached to it. They are free floating, close to the spacecraft Good Luck 1. They are moving at 4 point 3163 times the speed of light, and for several years that will be a Universal Record."

Ladies and gentlemen are you ready to begin?"

Elizabeth, Newton, Zoey, and Gordon replied, "Yes."

"Do you Newton Luck Thyme take as your wedded wife Elizabeth Eugenia Franklin from this day forth, from this time and place, and to wherever else we may travel in Her Universe, until death do you part?"

"I most certainly do."

"Do you Elizabeth Eugenia Franklin take as your wedded husband Newton Luck Thyme from this day forth, from this time and place in Our Lord's Universe, and to wherever else we may travel in Her Universe, until death do you part?"

"Absolutely! I've never been so happy. I Have A Family Now."

"By the power vested in me, as Senior Captain of the vessel Good Luck 1, I now pronounce you man and woman joined as partners in life, until death. I never liked the term husband-and-wife, but you are that too. Congratulations to you both. When you get back inside you may kiss each other. Come back inside now please."

"Okay were coming in. Wait one minute; where is my tether? Gordon, where the hell are you?"

"5 o'clock, about 300 feet down."

"What are you doing down there?"

"I'm looking at the bottom of one of the landing struts."

"Are you happy now?"

"Yes it looks absolutely perfect."

"Then get up here and get us inside so we can close up. You know we can't do anything without the ropes. We're stranded out here, and I know you did it."

"Women, they always get bossy when they are pregnant."

"Zoey's pregnant again?"

"Everyone knows it already. Your big mouth let it out one second after Teddy said it. Him"

"My big mouth? You are known as the newspaper of the ship, not me."

"When we get back to our room, you are in for it."

"Do you promise, do you really, really promise?"

"I am pissed at you Gordon."

"In order not to die tonight, I will refrain from commenting."

Jennifer said, "That is the smartest thing I have ever heard you say my son."

"Should I tell the crew about our conversation in the drugstore?"

"If you do Gordon, don't bother getting in the airlock, because your blood will be all over it seconds later."

"Mom you love me too much to do that."

"Say something and try me."

"No, I think I'll pass."

"That's the second smartest thing I've ever heard you say."

*****************

"Jack it's time for you to get a message ready to send to Earth. The most important part of it will be to tell them where we are going to land. Gray have you given it a name yet?"

"Yes I have Monty; with your approval. I've decided to name Gliese 581G 'Atwater Luck.' We promised to bury the ashes of President Clark, and Mrs. Julia Atwater on the first planet we landed, and I wanted to honor the memory of Doctor Even Luck. Those are the reasons I chose to name the planet 'Atwater Luck'."

"Is there anyone here in engineering that is opposed to giving the planet the Gliese 581G a new classification of "Atwater Luck."

"Hearing no dissent, Gliese 581G will now be known as "Atwater Luck."

"Jack that is the lead of your message. Give them our landing date, which will be in exactly 17 days. We will launch this messenger in 13 days, and a few hours. Figure out what date it would be on Earth, with the greetings from everyone on board. Tell them when Good Luck 2 is ready to fly, we expect them to bring the families we left behind for a visit. If they don't, they will not be welcomed here.

Whatever space you have left on the disk, tell them about our travels. They can verify that our speed has been well above the speed of light. Send that all in the clear, and if there is anything you want to tell Lucius, put it in code, and have Gordon translate into Latin for you. Put your team to work on that rocket now. I don't want anything to go wrong with it. You have 13 days, if it explodes, it will be the last time you and Hannah will ever have intercourse. I will operate on you personally. Once upon a time, I was very good with a blade."

Hannah yelled, "Hey, why would you punish me for his incompetence?"

"Someone has to suffer for it, and it's not going to be me doctor."

"Dammit, I'm not a doctor until after the surprise party."

"Yes Hannah I know, and so does everyone else onboard."

"Science division, this is Captain Jamison."

"Go ahead Captain."

"Change the nomenclature of Gliese 581G to 'Atwater Luck' immediately and permanently."

"Roger Captain, Gliese 581G is now 'Atwater Luck.' Sounds like a great name."

"It certainly does. How far to the turning point?"

"One moment please... 13 days 17 hours 27 minutes and 16 seconds."

"Mister Hastings, the next time you do that to me, you and your wife are never going to see each other."

"I'm sorry Captain, but this is not Doctor Hastings. He doesn't come on duty for 6 hours 14 min..., I'm sorry captain. This is Doctor Nabros."

"Doctor Nabros consider yourself scolded. Where on that delightful map of yours are we?"

"Thank you for only scolding me Captain. On the map we showed you, we have just entered the boundary of the area called Northern Scutum. Then we will be crossing the Northeast boundary of Sagittarius. Then we move into Scorpio. As we approach the midpoint of Scorpio, we will make our left turn, launch the probe towards Earth and proceed to Atwater Luck. Our destination will be 8.9628 light-years away, after the launch."

"Doctor Frist, how long were you an educator?"

"22 years Captain, does it show?"

"Doctor, it would have been an honor to sit in one of your lectures. You didn't leave one portion of our trip out, even though I only asked you where we were at the moment."

"I apologize Captain; I guess I tend to explain more than I was asked to explain. We are 127 light years to the west of the star Delta Scuti. It is called a variable star because..."

"That is more than enough information Doctor Nabros. You were on the verge of giving me another of your lectures, about a star I had no interest in."

"If you were 100 light years closer to it captain, you certainly would be interested in it."

"Thank you Doctor. Maybe at another time, when both of us have nothing to do, I will ask you about this variable star, and you will tell me all about it."

"I will hold you to that Captain, just in case we run into one of those on another voyage."

"Thank you Doctor Nabros."

"Bridge this is Captain Jamison."

"Captain Jamison this is the bridge."

"Since I don't recognize your voice, who are you?"

"Captain Jamison, this is Captain trainee Selma Oram."

"Miss Oram, who is your trainer?"

"Captain Gloria Abrams."

"May I speak to Captain Abrams please?"

"This is Captain Abrams speaking."

"Why did you choose Miss Oram to be trained next?"

"She was pretty. I like the way her ass wiggles; and she's got a beautiful chest."

"May I ask what your husband is going to think about her?"

"That's why I picked her captain. She is his birthday present."

"Gloria should I tell you how much trouble you are in?"

"Captain, she was next on the list of trainees. Her score was 89 percent, and Doctor Luck said she was a superb prospect."

"Gloria when my knees get better, I'm going to kick you in the ass so high you going to fly from the fifth to the first floor."

"Do you mean you're going to kick me down the steps, or did Gordon destroy part of your brain as well as your knees. Did you forget that engineering is on the first floor, and where you got your ass kicked is on the fifth floor?"

"I'm going to schedule a match between you and that runt. I want to watch you get your ass kicked by him, and see how big you feel."

"You say bad word."

"I thought you left with your family, and the new bride and groom, Teddy?"

"Too many feet; I too small, I get stepped on. So I stay here, you still not say bad word."

"Okay, you come with me. I'll hold you up in the air, and you can kick Gloria in the backside for me."

"What she did wrong?"

"She is married. She is bringing another woman home for her husband as a birthday present. That's not right."

"Rules say if wife okay, and husband okay, other person okay too."

"You can't read yet, can you?"

"Christine teaching me; learn real fast. Numbers too; really, really fast. Callie help me with numbers and letters together. Very hard. 'X square + 1= 10. How? How letter turn into number? Not make sense. I learn, I find out soon."

"When you do, will you teach me?"

"You not know how?"

"I knew how to do it a long time ago. Now I forgot how. If you teach me, I will remember how to do it."

"Okay, I help you, and you help me."

"Are you going to kick Gloria for me now?"

"She do no wrong."

"I hate it when a 4-year-old is smarter than I am."

"Mommy say same thing; Gordon too."

"Marry still very important?"

"Yes, marrying is still very, very important. Like today, Elizabeth and Newton were married, not because she was going to have a baby, but because they were very much in love with one another. Any man and woman can make a baby. However, when you decide to get married the man and the woman show they really love each other, and want to stay together forever."

"Why Doctor Hannah's Jack divorce 2 times."

"For a 4-year old girl, Teddy, you asked some very tough questions."

Teddy laughed. "Daddy use bad words when I ask too many questions him. Then he says, "Go ask your mother."

"With Newton as their first child, and you as their second child, your parents are probably very afraid of what's going to happen when your brother and sister grow up. I know I would be."

"Why?"

"Go ask your mother."

"You not fair Monty."

"I don't have to be fair, I am the Senior Captain."

"I think I kick you in knee."

"I will sentence all the turkeys to death."

Teddy said, "X²+1=10 X=3. 3^x3=9 9+1=10. Not hurt my turkies Senior Captain."

"Never Teddy, I will not hurt the turkeys, because we love you, and we love the turkeys too."

***************

35. Reversal of Fortunes